


Blood and Flowers

by Jaydee_Faire



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Blood, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Other, Unrequited Love, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 14:19:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15144968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaydee_Faire/pseuds/Jaydee_Faire
Summary: Nicaise is sick.





	Blood and Flowers

"Do you love someone?"

Nicaise crushed the soiled napkin in his hand and thrust it out of sight under the table. "Yes," he said with a nasty smile, "my mummy and daddy."

The woman who'd been watching him made a smile of her own, smug as a cat's, too knowing. "Who is she? Another pet? No one close to your age, then." She tapped her chin with the tip of her finger, thinking. "An older woman, hmm. I wouldn't have guessed." Her gaze went to the Regent, sitting at the head of the table and deep in conversation with some lesser noble. "Or maybe I would have." 

Nicaise dropped the napkin between his knees and kicked it, hoping it landed far enough away that no one would suspect him. He could pluck out dark hairs on his chin; he could feign a child's voice. But he couldn't hide this.

He hadn't _had_ to, before now. It had always happened late at night, when he'd already returned to his own rooms and could stain white linen handkerchiefs in private. Sometimes he'd wake from dark, intense dreams to blood on his lips and petals wilting on his pillow. Other times it was less romantic: more than once he'd huddled over a chamber pot, coughing and then gagging on blooms dripping scarlet, trying to cry quietly while easing thorny vines out of his throat.

Laurent was wearing blue, tonight, dyed so dark it was nearly black with the gold accents flashing like cracks in broken pottery. It turned him to hard white marble, a statue carved in the perfect image of a man, so sublime it made nuns weep to look at it. The sight of it had made Nicaise retch, barely managing to cover his mouth with one of the splendid gold-edged napkins. 

And then again, that familiar burning, the tightening of his throat, blood pooling beneath his tongue. He'd heaved and spat a wad of petals into his hand and then froze, wondering who had seen, knowing someone had seen, dreading looking up and finding out how many eyes would be on him. 

It had only been her, the woman with the painted lips and the cat's smile. She pointed to the corner of her mouth. "You missed a spot. Just there."

Nicaise dragged his sleeve across his mouth, pushing his chair away from the table. Let people wonder why he'd left the table so early-- he'd be able to invent some excuse for the Regent and he didn't care about anyone else.

He didn't care who would be missing him. Whose dangerous, golden-lashed eyes would scan the room and wonder where he'd gone.

The woman watched his hasty retreat, her smile turning into a grin. "Oh, my. That bad, is it? Does she know?"

He didn't need Laurent's pity. 

Or his disgust.

One hand over his mouth, red spilling from between his fingers, Nicaise fled.

**Author's Note:**

> The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from one-sided love, where the patient vomits or coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love.
> 
> (visit me on tumblr @cyberphuck)


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